Apparatus for applying a label to a container by moving the container through resilient fingers having the label mounted thereon

ABSTRACT

A LABEL IS APPLIED TO A CONTAINER BY FIRST PLACING THE LABEL OVER THE SMALL END OF A CONICAL-SHAPED, EXPANSION DEVICE. NEXT THE CONTAINER IS MOVED THROUGH THE LARGE END OF THE CONICAL-SHAPED DEVICE AND AS THE CONTAINER APPROACHES THE SMALL END IT WILL EXPAND BOTH THE SMALL END   AND THE LABEL. AS THE CONTAINER CONTINUES ON IT WILL PASS THROUGH THE LABEL UNTIL IT IS IN THE CORRECT POSITION.

Jan. 26, 1971 A D. w. METCALF 3,558,404

APPARATUS FOR APPLYING A LABEL TO A CONTAINER BY MOVING TH-E CONTAINERTHROUGH RESILIENT FINGERS HAVING THE LABEL MOUNTED THEREON Filed-May 51,1968 34 I 1 r 30 46 36b W28 FIG. 3

INVENTOR. D.W. M E TCALF FIG. 5

A TTORNEYS United States Patent 3,558,404 APPARATUS FOR APPLYING A LABELTO A CONTAINER BY MOVING THE CONTAINER THROUGH RESILIENT FINGERS HAVINGTHE LABEL MOUNTED THEREON Dean W. Metcalf, Grand Prairie, Tex., assignorto Phillips Petroleum Company, a corporation of Delaware Filed May 31,1968, Ser. No. 733,440 Int. Cl. B65c 3/08 US. Cl. 156-484 2 ClaimsABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A label is applied to a container by firstplacing the label over the small end of a conical-shaped, expansiondevice. Next the container is moved through the large end of theconical-shaped device and as the container approaches the small end itwill expand both the small end and the label. As the container continueson it will pass through the label until it is in the correct position.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a labelapplicator. In One aspect this invention relates to expanding acontainer label and pushing a container through the label until thecontainer is in the correct relationship with the label. In anotheraspect this invention relates to using resilient fingers as a means toexpand a label by forcing the container through the fingers after thelabel has been placed over the fingers.

It has always been desirable in the container field for labels to beplaced on containers for easy and quick identification. There has been aproblem with printing the label on the exterior of the containermaterial prior to packing since the label may become damaged duringprocessing and packing of the container. Also, the application of labelson containers after processing where the label is made of some easilytorn or damaged material such as paper has also been a problem. It ispossible that a paper label may be torn during shipping and handling andthereby reduce the aesthetic appearance of the container. It is wellknown in certain areas of marketing, where the product is sold to theconsumer in the container, that a damaged label may reduce themarketability of the product unless the price is reduced.

Also, there is a problem in that containers made out of certain types ofmaterials, such as polyethylene, will not make a good adhesive bond witha label. If a label is to be bonded to a polyethylene container then thecontainer must be treated in order for a good bond to form. This specialtreatment adds to the expense and time required in labeling thecontainer.

It has been found that all the problems discussed above may beeliminated by the use of a tubular plastic sleeve label. This label maybe applied before or after the container is processed with no danger tothe printing on the tubular plastic label. Also, tubular plastic labelsare very hard to tear and damage to the label during handling is rare.

There has been a problem with the use of tubular plastic sleeve labelsin applying the label to the container. One method has been to make thelabel of a heat shrinkable material and to make the size of the label soit easily fits around the container. After the label is in place, heatis applied which shrinks the label to fit snugly around the container.While this method is successful with certain types of materials used incontainers, it is not suitable for all containers. Some containermaterials may be adversely alfected by the heat shrinking process. Alsothe heat shrinking process is time consuming and increases the expenseof placing the label on the container. It has been found that by usingthe present invention the advantages of using a tubular plastic sleevelabel are utilized while the problems of applying such a label areeliminated.

Therefore, it is the object of the present invention to provide a devicewherein tubular plastic sleeve labels may be applied to containers. Itis a further object of the present invention to provide a device whereina tubular plastic label may be applied to a container without requiringa special treating of the container. It is a further object to provide adevice for applying tubular plastic labels to a container withoutrequiring special treatment of the label after it is applied to thecontainer.

Other aspects, objects and the several advantages of the invention willbe apparent from a study of the disclosure, the drawings, and theappended claims to the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawings, FIG. 1 is aperspective view showing the relationship between a conveyor and thedriving means and side guard used in the present invention. FIG. 2 is aside elevational view of a machine embodying the present invention. FIG.3 is an end view of a label stretching device used in the presentinvention. FIGS. 4 and 5 are successive side views of a label beingplaced on a container in accordance with the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, alabel application is made up of a driving means 12, a positioning trough14 and a label stretcher 16. Trough 14 is located between driving means12 and label stretcher 16. A driving disc 22 is attached to a piston rod24 and a guard plate 26 is attached to the periphery of disc 22 andcovers approximately one quarter of the periphery of disc 22. Guardplate 26 is positioned parallel to piston rod 24. Driving means 12 maybe of any commerically available device, such as a single acting aircylinder as manufactured Miller Manufacturing Company, Chicago, 111.,wherein piston rod 24, disc 22 and guard plate 26 are moved in ahorizontal manner.

Positioning trough 14 is connected to a conveyor 28 which carriescontainers 36A, 36B and 36C to trough 14. Conveyor 28 is made up ofguide walls 30 and 32 and an end wall 34. Containers 36A, 36B and 360are moved over conveyor 28 by any means commercially known in the artsuch as a conveyor belt (not shown). Guide walls 30 and 32 form a troughwhich the containers move through before moving into positioning trough14.

Label stretcher 16 is made up of a ring 38 and six resilient fingers 40.Ring 38 is of such a diameter that containers 36A, 36B and 36C may beaxially passed through it. Resilient fingers 40 are rigidly attached tothe end of ring 38 and fingers 40 are biased in such a manner that theends not attached to ring 38 are closer together than those ends whichare attached to ring 38. Resilient fingers 40 are distributed uniformlyaround ring 38 as shown in FIG. 3. The ends of fingers 40 which are notattached to ring 38 are located close together so that containers 36A,36B and 36C can not pass through the end without moving the fingersapart. Two of the figures have guide pins 42 which are used to place atubular plastic sleeve label 44 in the proper position over fingers 40.Pins 42 may be located on any two of the six fingers 40 which areopposite each other. It may also be desirable in certain cases to placeguide pins 42 on all six of the fingers.

A fiat surface 48, such as a table, runs along the side of conveyor 28.Supporting means 50 and 52 are used to support and connect driving means12 to surface 48. A supporting means 54 is used to support and connectlabel stretcher 16 to surface 48.

Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown one of containers 36A in a positionready to move into trough 14. Piston rod 24, driving disc 22, and guardplate 26 are shown in a position where the piston rod 24 is at its mostextended position. Container 36A is prevented from moving into trough14, while piston rod 24 is in the extended position, by guard plate 26.If container 36A was allowed to move against piston rod 24 while it isin the extended position, then when rod 24 tried to return to itsretracted position (as shown in FIG. 2) it would jam disc 22 intocontainer 36A thereby preventing the machine from operating properly.

Wall 30 is curved and sloped in such a manner that the gravitationalforce will roll the containers oif of wall 30. Wall 32 is attached towall 30 and the two walls form a trough. Wall 32 supports the containersagainst the gravitational force until the containers reach a point 46where wall 32 ends. Therefore when a container is in the position shownby container 36A, FIG. 1, the container will have a tendency to rollinto trough 14 except that guard plate 26 prevents this. End wall 34 isplaced in a position at the end of conveyor 28 so that if container 36Ais blocked from entering trough 14 due to guard plate 26 then thecontainer will come into contact with end wall 34 and held in placeuntil guard plate 26 is removed. As piston rod 24 moves toward itsretracted position, disc 22 and guard plate 26 will also be moved towardthe same position.

Referring to FIG. 2, piston rod 24, disc 22, and guard plate 26 are in aretracted position and container 36A has moved out of conveyor 28 andinto positioning trough 14. Tubular label 44 is then positioned overfingers 40 up to guide pins 42. Label 44 may be made of any materialwhich will stretch when tension is applied and then return toapproximate shape after the tension is released. An example of such amaterial is polyethylene.

After container 36A has rolled into trough 14 and label 44 is placedover fingers 40, the driving means 12 is actuated. Driving means 12 maybe actuated by a manual switch or by electrical means which wouldtrigger the driving means when the label and container are in place.When driving means 12 is actuatedthen piston rod 24 starts to movetoward its extended position and in doing so disc 22 comes in contactwith the end of container 36A. Disc 22 then pushes container 36A towardand axially through ring 38. Trough 14 is located at a height so thatthe trough and the bottom of ring 38 correspond. This allows container36A to move smoothly from trough 14 through ring 38. As container 36Amoves through ring 38 and out the other side it will come in contactwith the six resilient fingers 40. Container 36A is rigid enough to pushfingers 40 outward so that fingers 40 are approximately parallel to thesides of container 36A.

Referring to FIG. 4, there is shown container 36A pushing on fingers 40as described above. When fingers 40 are pushed outward from each otherby container 36A then label 44 is stretched so that the circumference ofthe label is slightly larger than that of the container. Container 36Athen continues to move through ring 38 and through label 44 until thepiston rod 24 has extended itself fully. When piston rod 24 has reachedits point of full extension then container 36A will have moved throughlabel 44 so that the container 36A is in the correct relationship withlabel 44 as shown in FIG. 5. When container 36A is in the correctposition with respect to label 44 a pressure is applied to label 44. Thepressure will be exerted perpendicular to label 44 and will be in adirection toward the axis of container 36A. The pressure may be exertedby an operator placing his fingers on the label and pushing inward orthe pressure may be exerted by any mechanical means suited for suchpurpose such as mechanical clamping jaws. When the pressure has beenapplied then container 36A and label 44 are moved off of fingers 40 inthe same direction the container has previously been moving. Theoperation of removing the container and label from the fingers mayeither be done by an operator or by mechanical means depending uponwhich means is consistent with the means used to apply theabove-described inward pressure. Upon removal of container and label 44,fingers 40 will spring back into their original position as shown inFIG. 2 wherein the ends of the fingers which are not attached to ring 38will be closer together than those ends which are attached to ring 38.

Upon the removal of container 36A and label 44 the label will return toapproximately its unstretched size. Since the circumference of label 44is slightly smaller in its unstretched size than container 36A then whenthe label returns to this unstretched size it will fit snugly around thecontainer to prevent the label from slipping off during processing andhandling. It may also be desirable to form the containers with a slightindentation around the middle of the container. When the label isapplied it is positioned in the indentation to further prevent the labelfrom sliding off the ends of the container.

During the time container 36A is being moved into label 44, container36B will be moving into the position occupied by container 36A inFIG. 1. Guard plate 26 will prevent container 36B from rolling intotrough .14 while container 36A is being pushed through label 44. Whenpiston rod 24 returns to its retracted position then container 36B willroll into trough 14 and the abovedziacribed labeling process will berepeated on container 3 While the label stretcher and position 16 isdisclosed as ring 38 and resilient fingers 40, it is understood that anexpandable solid cone can be used. Such a cone can be made up of aseries of continuous strips of material attached to a ring so that theends not attached to the ring are closer together and form a smalleropening than the ends attached to the ring. It is also understood thatthe cone can be made up of a single piece of material formed in theshape of a cone but constructed in such a way that the small end of thecone can be expanded to the size of a container.

Reasonable variation and modification are possible within the scope ofthe foregoing disclosure, the drawings and the appended claims to theinvention.

I claim:

1. Label applying apparatus comprising:

a stationary ring having a plurality of resilient fingers securedthereto and extending from the ring in a first direction, the ends ofsaid fingers remote from said ring normally being closer together thanthe ends of the fingers that are secured to the ring, said fingers beingadapted to have a label mounted thereon; conveyor positioned adjacentsaid ring, said conveyor comprising a first trough along which generallycylindrical articles can be moved, said first trough having an openingadjacent the end thereof through which the articles are removed;

a second trough positioned adjacent said ring and said conveyor toreceive articles removed from said first trough through said opening;and

article driving means comprising a disk mounted on a rod, means to movesaid rod so that said disk is moved through said second trough towardsaid ring and is then returned, whereby a generally cylindrical articlepositioned in said second trough is moved by said disk through said ringand into said resilient Refer-a es Cited means so as to be positionedbetween said first and 1,955,949 4/1934 Colton 53 291X second troughswhen said disk is displaced toward 5 21 :55: ISG 4Z3X said ring toprevent articles from moving into said $3323 gig g the 118k dlsplacedBENJAMIN A. BORCHELT, Primary Examiner 2. The apparatus of claim 1,further comprising guide I. J. DEVI'IT, Assistant Examiner pins mountedon at least part of said resilient fingers ad- 10 jacent said ring, saidguide pins extending outwardly from said fingers to position labelsmounted on said fingers. 156-423

